ICPT systems are well known for a number of industrial applications where traditional methods are unable to perform in certain applications such as clean rooms, people moving, materials handling, and battery charging.
A basic ICPT system consists of three main components, being a power supply, a primary track or coil usually consisting of an elongate conductive path, and one or more pick-ups to which energy from the primary conductive path is transferred in a contactless manner. The operation of an ICPT system is described in the U.S. Pat. No. 5,293,308 (Boys et al) the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
The operating frequency of an ICPT system is affected by the type of application and the power switches that are currently available. The mutual inductance between the pick-up and the primary conductive path is directly influenced by the proximity of the pick-up to the primary path (or track as it is commonly known) and the magnetic material coupling the two.
The observed quality factor (Q) is a direct function of the controlled load. Staying at the resonant frequency irrespective of Q is difficult due to a component variations resulting from time and temperature degradation and proximity to undesirable magnetic material. Additionally, having to match components in a statically tuned system adds costs and complexity to the manufacturing process.
Therefore, overcoming problems associated with component variations which make it difficult to maintain resonance with high Q's is a significant issue in ICPT systems.